Vertical table splitter build

[firebrick43]

Hello all.
This thread is were I will post pictures, info, and ask for advice for my splitter build.

Background.
Great friend and neighbor(shooting buddies) has a 2020 tractor with attachments. A while back he needed money and I wanted a tractor similar like his for the loader capabilities mainly so we made a deal that I "reversed mortgaged" his tractor. I make payments and he can still use the tractor if need be. It came with several attachments one which was a home built log splitter that was obtained from a deceased relative of his. The thing didn't work at all and I had to explain that it needed a closed center valve as the tractor is a close center system. A new prince auto return valve fixed that but the beam needed replace and I have never liked wood splitters do to the speed, lifting of wood, and cost. A maul is a good solution for me most of the time. The neighbor however is 70 so the maul is out but he can bend over and lift much either??? So I convinced him to help with a rebuild, more like complete new splitter using old cylinder/valve.

We decided on a powersplit/timberdevil type machine but with a cable log lift borrowed from the superaxe/aussiesplitter type machines.

So in talking to my dad about needing a beam he had one available for free. Little bigger than needed, 12" deep by 6" wide. Not sure what to call it as it has constant thickness top and bottom flanges 3/8 thick like a W beam(H beam to some) but unlike a W beam its not square or nearly square it taller and skinny like an S beam(I beam to some) but doesn't have the tapered webs? Any way it was free and sufficiently heavy enough(more like overkill). It was reclaimed from a building sometime and has weld areas, areas that were cut with a torch, and was joined/double plated one spot but there was a clear section of 7 feet so that is going to be the main beam

So last weekend I measured out 16 inches and marked out a 45 degree angle so the long side was 28.5" and cut with a torch. Cleaned and beveled with a grinder and pivoted the cut off piece 180 degrees so part now is sticking out 90 and will be the base of the table. To extend the table I cut two 28.5 pieces on top 16" on bottom, left over from the beam and welded the long side up on either side of the table piece. These widened the table out to 18" and reinforce the main beams welded joint.

That is were I am at this morning, will post pictures soon

Good Day

 

[nathon918]

you have a wide flange (W) beam, just not standard size, a (W) beam can come any size you want, as theyre fabricated and not just hot rolled like other structural shapes...

 

[JustCuttin']

W beams are hot rolled sections, they are not built up plate members. Sounds like you have somewhere in the neighborhood of a W12x26.

 

[nathon918]

W beams are hot rolled sections, they are not built up plate members. Sounds like you have somewhere in the neighborhood of a W12x26.

these may change your mind?

beams on the "smaller" side are not hot rolled, they are just rolled straight when hot AFTER they have been fabricated/welded together...

 

[JustCuttin']

These videos show an impressive bit of fabrication but, are not convincing. These show the fabrication of built up plate girders. It is simply not economical for fabricators to mass produce steel shapes in this manner. I am not saying that standard shapes cannot be fabricated, but the bulk of structural steel is rolled in a continuous manufacturing process.

This link gives a brief explanation as to the production of structural steel: http://www.aisc.org/content.aspx?id=3786
Here is another link with a bit of light reading: https://www.aisc.org/uploadedFiles/SteelDay/2011/Documents/Sept. Industry Overview.pdf

 

[firebrick43]

Here is some photos

So here its about 7' tall from the ground, a lot of the top of the beam will be whacked off but not until I get the wedge and cylinder mocked up. The table is 19" wide and from the front edge to the vertical beam 16". The three point A frame was off an old mower and is being used for mock up purpose only, a three point hitch is being fabbed up now and will be the next part of the project to make moving the beast easier.


The hole in the table is from where the beams were bolted together in the building, they will be filled. The side pieces angle was to maximize top space of what beam I had. They were one beam, cut at a 45 and then on piece flipped over so long side is up.










Here is the old splitter, what an abortion. The only good part is the cylinder and valve. Some one even welded a wood grenade ontop of the wedge, and did a bad job of it??? Catches and tears fibers.. Cant tell if the light beam flanges bent up due to use or the builder purposely bent them up to provide some what of a log cradle but the scabbed together pusher is definitely built or rebuilt to follow the shape of the bent up beam. The top link is to low and the cylinder end hits the top link and the bottom points bar is all bent. Cobbled together stuff is a pet peeve of mine!


At this point no money in steel, and 3lbs of lagrange 70 welding rod that friend/neighbor provided. He has a lincoln tombstone ac welder. His shop is bigger and more paved space or I would be using a DC welder but I am impressed with the lagrange 70. Welds almost as nice as a good DC welder on 7018. All joints beveled with a grinder and put in one hot pass and one to two filler passes. I finally got a Autodarkening helmet, a miller classic VSI. It has the x mode which is nice for the tig welding I do (did a 304 SS exhaust last week) but also works well here to. X mode darkens as it senses the current in the wires not the arcs flash. Tried to flip down my visor a thousand times however

 

[Hddnis]

these may change your mind?

beams on the "smaller" side are not hot rolled, they are just rolled straight when hot AFTER they have been fabricated/welded together...

Maybe these will change your mind?



This second one shows I beams from loading the ladle with scrap to finished beam.


Fabricated beams are used for odd sizes that are based on load calculations and usually used in architectural features. It costs more to fabricate beam from rolled stock than it does to hot roll to size and shape. Because of the cost increase there has to be a savings in steel to justify using fabricated beam sections.



Mr. HE

 

[1375619cm3]

They make beams both ways depending on applications. ... your both right and wrong.

 

[Hddnis]

They make beams both ways depending on applications. ... your both right and wrong.

Which is what I said, how does that make me wrong?



Mr. HE

 

[1375619cm3]

It doesn't unless u were saying they dont make them tge other way but I could've misinterpreted ur post if I did sry.

 

[firebrick43]

I completed the hitch today and here is some pics



Hitch bar is 2x2"steel 1/8 wall. Wanted 3x3 with 1/4 wall but my one and only source for new steel doesn't stock that so I would have to order 20'. By lifting the bar up further I use the top flanges of the H Beam to strengthen the 2x2 tube. Used some 45 degree cuts to reinforce the plates at the end.



The hitch is made to Cat 2 dimensions except the width is Cat 1. This keeps me from having side to side sway as I don't care to flip the sway blocks to convert back and forth. Cat 1 is 26.5 inches outside to outside of pin plates(not pins) The top link is 18 inches above the bottom pins. Right now cat 1 pin with bushings are being used but Cat 2 pins will be installed as soon as I can make it to TSC.



This is the tractor it will be used with, a 67' 2020 John Deere. Its a 54 horse tractor, has 800lbs of fluid in the tires. Very stable. With my 215 pounds jumping up and down on the table and pulling it side to side I could only get the tires to compress up and down and inch or so, no side or tilting movement! A plus is when we pickup one of those really large trees and the rear gets light, not so much as we can just put the splitter on as a counter weight!




This is the first (and last) selfie I have taken. Shows the work height of the table. This piece is a little short 12-13 inches? If it was 2 inches higher it would be perfect but I still won't have to bend over! I am 6'1" and wearing cowboy boots here so it would be perfect for the average man.

 

[firebrick43]

Working on the carriage/wedge assembly now. How much play should I build into the carriage?? .010"? Side to side and up and down???

Carriage is going to be a traditional style that rides the flange. The timber devil/powersplit don't have a true carriage per say, it looks like a loop around the beam just to keep the wedge from rotating, the oversize cylinder rod forces from the wedge.

Since I don't have a oversize cylinder rod I am wondering how tall to make the wedge and where to push on the wedge.
Conventional wisdom on the site is to place the cylinder as close to the beam as possible and for a horizontal splitter I understand that as every piece of wood is going to be at the bottom of the wedge, only bigger ones at the top.

My "thought process" is since the splitter is vertical and I can place even small wood in the center of the wedge I should place the cylinder in the center of the wedge. I have enough metal to make a 11.5" wedge. Beam is strong enough to deal with the additional leverage of placing the cylinder further from the beam. Does my reasoning sound solid or am I over seeing something.

 

[nathon918]

.010 is a bit tight to me, id atleast check your beam for warpage, often the flanges are pulled down a little, so your flat slide may not fit the curved flange...
id probably aim more towards 40-50 thou.

as for cylinder placement, it really shouldnt matter, as long as the beam is heavy enough and the slide is long enough,
i run a 8 x40# beam and my slide is 10x10, pin hole 1" below center (4" up from flange) no problems here, i just wish i would have made the slide a bit longer to keep the stress on the flanges to a minimum.
im actually changing mine to have changable wedges, i want a "box" wedge like on a TW-7 but also want a single/4/6way, maybe ill make a new slide too?

 

[Oliver1655]

I like to have the cylinder close to the center of the wedge & push sled height. (If the wedge & push sled is 8" tall, center cylinder at 4". If 20" tall then center at 10".) Most important is both ends of the cylinder are the same height from the beam. So in you case, take the depth of you table & cut it in half.

I built my splitter with just using ideas from splitters found locally at stores. I wish I knew then what I know now. I am using a 4" cylinder with a 21" high 4-way wedge & 18" high push sled. The center of the cylinder is mounted around 4" above the beam. This works well if the 4-way is not on as the single wedge is 8" tall. However when I am splitting tough 20+" inch rounds with the 4-way on, the uneven push on the sled will bend on the beam flanges from time to time pulling them upward. When this happens, I just pull out the 12 lb hammer & tap them back in place. (I will be modifying the cylinder mounts later this summer moving them up to 10" from beam. I have to remount the valves which are above the cylinder first.) With this said, I will need to make the mounts stronger for the added torque being placed on them.

 

[firebrick43]

Here is an update. Been cutting steel. Need 4' more before I start welding it up. Need some steel for the log lift as well. 1.5" x 1/16 wall sound sufficient?


Here are the slides. Had 24" of 1018 in 1/2 x 3 and 7/8" square. Cut 4 1x3x1/2 pieces and welded on the top ends of the 10x3x1/2 with 7018. Used my syncrowave, so much nicer that a Lincoln tomb stone!

Drilled the 7/8 square 1/16" off center. Clamp and drilled it to the 10x3. Tapped the 10x3 and use 7 3/8x16 bolts per side. Also drilled and tapped a hole for a grease zerk and used a die grinder with cut off wheel to put in grease grooves.




A 1" x 10" x .25" shim was made as well. Wished I had some 1x1 but this is what I had.

 

[firebrick43]

Pictures






Future wood splitter, he turned 1 last Saturday and is learning to get in trouble

 

[Oliver1655]

I would go thicker on the tubing wall for the log lift. You will be wanting to pickup 200# + pieces & 1/16" wall seems pretty thin to me. I used 1/4" wall 2-1/2" tubing from a roll cage & with the number of rounds I pile on the log lift, I am glad to have the strength.

 

[nathon918]

I would go thicker on the tubing wall for the log lift. You will be wanting to pickup 200# + pieces & 1/16" wall seems pretty thin to me. I used 1/4" wall 2-1/2" tubing from a roll cage & with the number of rounds I pile on the log lift, I am glad to have the strength.

+1
mines 3/4"x 3" flat bar, plated with 1/4", it will hold/lift anything until it tips the splitter over, which takes quite a bit as my splitter weighs around #3000...

 

[firebrick43]

+1
mines 3/4"x 3" flat bar, plated with 1/4", it will hold/lift anything until it tips the splitter over, which takes quite a bit as my splitter weighs around #3000...

I got a piece of 3/4 x 3" to reinforce the cylinder mounting. But I do want to be able to remove the log lift and handle it without a crane

Do you guys have pics of your lifts??

 

[nathon918]

I got a piece of 3/4 x 3" to reinforce the cylinder mounting. But I do want to be able to remove the log lift and handle it without a crane

Do you guys have pics of your lifts??

http://www.arboristsite.com/community/threads/splitter-build.209036/
heres a link to my splitter build, most of the pics are gone, but theres some still there near the bottom of the fist page ... no real good ones of the lift, I might take some new ones and throw em on here...
good point if you want it removable, as mine weighs about #300, but it goes almost verticle so its not a problem when towing...